The military and police forces of the world today are faced with the problem of dealing with hostile civilians in a non-lethal manner. Hand to hand combat is not safe for the foot soldier and tear gas has its own set of disadvantages. Plastic training bullets, lead-shot filled bags and rubber shotgun slugs or pellets are only good at a given distance. When the projectiles from currently available weapons are fired, the operator has no control over how fast it will travel on a shot-by-shot basis.
This presents a need for a variable velocity firearm which will allow the user to either manually or automatically control the velocity of the projectile, based on target distance and target hardness. Often it is desirable to injure, subdue or cause pain to an opponent rather than kill him as a means of forceful control. The target range is often or usually not within the control of the operator, so that if a target is close or soft the projectile will totally penetrate said target. On the other hand, the next shot may be at a greater distance, and if the projectile lacks adequate velocity it will have little accuracy or impact upon the target.
The variable velocity firearm is designed to give the individual using it control over the velocity of the projectile such that he can effect a sublethal attack or projectile impact upon his opponent at will on a shot-by-shot basis at a variety of target distances and consistancies.